Facebook's Sandberg says men need to mentor women more

March 12, 2013|Reuters

By Liana B. Baker

March 12 (Reuters) - Sheryl Sandberg's new book "Lean In"challenges men in the upper echelons of corporate America totake more women under their wing.

Sandberg is on a promotional blitz for the new book, whichhas been praised as an ambitious reboot of feminism andcriticized as a manifesto directed to women from a privilegedperch. On Tuesday, she said men need to amp up their mentoringof women, especially younger ones just starting out in theircareers.

Noting that men hold 86 percent of the top jobs in corporateAmerica, Sandberg said in a interview Tuesday that, "We wantwomen to get into those jobs, but if we don't get older men tomentor and sponsor younger women, this will never happen."

Sandberg's book was born out of talks she gave starting in2010 about how the world has scant female leaders in politicsand corporations.

After studying at Harvard and working at the U.S. TreasuryDepartment, Sandberg rose to the top of Silicon Valley, jumpingfrom Google to Chief Operating Officer at Facebook while raising two children. (Silicon Valley's reaction to Sandberg's book )

Sandberg acknowledged that there are stereotypes and doublestandards to tear down in mentoring relationships. An older manand a younger woman seen together at dinner or drinks looks likea date, while two men discussing business together looksperfectly normal, she said.

To underscore Sandberg's point, "Lean In" highlights a studypublished by the Center for Work-Life Policy and the HarvardBusiness Review that found men in high positions at companieswere nervous meeting a younger woman one-on-one.

She also recounts an encounter with Larry Summers, who asU.S. Treasury Secretary served as her boss. Working on a speechtogether one night until 3 a.m. in South Africa, Sandberg had tomake sure no one saw her step out of Summers' hotel room so lateat night. Men, for example, never have to worry about thatsituation and it helps them move up faster in a corporateenvironment, she said.

"I want everyone to have the same policies for everyone andget explicit about them," Sandberg said.

Besides mentoring, she said male corporate executives needto be more cognizant of how women are perceived negatively oncethey start moving up. She calls this a "likeability gap" thatholds women back from being ambitious. Managers should thinktwice before they give a performance review that calls a woman"aggressive," she said.

"As a woman gets more successful, everyone likes her less.This completely changes how women are portrayed in the office.What I believe is if you can make people aware of this bias thatwe all face - men and women alike - we can change it," she saidin a separate television interview with Reuters.